On Sunday, February 8th, one of the biggest events of the year for sport-loving Americans aired on prime-time television: the Super Bowl. If you didn’t get the chance to watch, please save yourself the trouble. The game was an absolute snoozefest. It was what many nerdy, loser sports analysts call “a battle of defensive titans.” Translation: “nap time.” However, there were two phenomenal performances that kept me watching. One was Bad Bunny, obviously. The other was one of the greatest generational talents ever to grace the gridiron.
That man is Seattle Seahawks kicker, Jason Meyers.
Because “Mr. I’m Seeing Ghosts” Sam Darnold had more trouble moving downfield than my 98-year-old great grandma moves down stairs, someone had to pick up the slack. In the third quarter, while Sam Darnold was passing at a whopping 44.8% completion rating, putting up prime Ryan Leaf numbers, Jason Meyers put up 12 points off 4 field goals, marksmanning 100% of his kicks. The Seahawks were up 12-0 going into the fourth, and the only man with points on the field was the kicker.
Jason Meyers ended up putting up 17 points on the game, the most points ever scored in a Super Bowl by a kicker, with five field goals and two extra points. The Seahawks ended up winning the Super Bowl 29-13, meaning if Jason Meyers didn’t score his points, the Seahawks would have LOST THE GAME, 12-13. The Super Bowl, quite literally, came down to one man, and that man is Jason Meyers.
But this is par for the course for who may be the greatest kicker of all time. Throughout the season, Meyers was 41/48 on field goals, kicking 32/36 from within the 50, and he was 48/48 on extra points. In the entire season, that man did not miss a single extra point kick: not from wind, not from a bad hold, not from God not being on his side that day. He made every single kick. Meyers proved to be one of the most consistent players on the Seahawks roster, and in the case of the Super Bowl, it won them the biggest game in football.
So when Pete Rozelle got walked out onto the field, it was clear who was the rightful winner of the trophy. That man was the one, the only…
…Kenneth Walker? What? He didn’t even score. He ran for 135 yards, and 25 of those came in the fourth quarter when the defense was already so demoralized from a kicker dropping 17 on them that they gave up. He ran for like 5 yards a play, which is good, but we’re giving him Super Bowl MVP? He didn’t even do anything!
Kenneth Walker III is the prime example of what is wrong with the state of the MVP discussions in modern football. Every single time MVP is about to be awarded, it is the conversation of who was the better quarterback. And once every ten years, when a quarterback plays so ridiculously awful that giving them the MVP would be a disgrace to football– I’m looking at you, Sam– a receiver will win it. Jason Meyers had one of the greatest Super Bowl performances from a kicker in the Super Bowl Era, and I guarantee he was not even a consideration for the MVP, even though, and I can’t state this enough, the Seahawks, literally, would not have won the game without him.
The entire outlook on what the Most Valuable Player award actually represents is completely out of line with the title of the award. If we want to have a Best Receiver Award or a Best Quarterback Award, that’s fine; I’ll think it’s stupid, but whatever, do what you want to do, I guess. But to have an award that is supposed to be dedicated to the most valuable player on the team, and not award it to the man who scored the only points in 45 minutes, single-handedly scoring enough points to win the game without any other scores, completely tarnishes the meaning of the MVP. Jason Meyers was robbed.
Kenneth Walker may be the league’s MVP, but Jason Meyers is the People’s MVP.
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